Author: Garth Beyer

The race to the bottom is a scary one.

Consider bags of cereal. They once were completely full of sugary goodness.

Now? Now they’re half filled, and some, even less.

10 years, 5 years or 3 months from now there will be even less cereal. 

The race to the bottom is to blame.

“If our competitor shaved a few ounces off, so will we. In fact, we’ll shave another ounce off because no one will know the difference.”

Except, of course, the competitor, who will then retaliate. And so we have a race to the bottom.

But the market is shifting, from those who want cereal to those who merely want less air.

They want a brand that steps away from the race to the bottom to invest in customer service and story and value and generosity – not because it makes them money, but because they can.

Stay Positive & See You At The Top

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Difficult is when we learn the most, have the most impact and can create the most value.

As long as we believe in thinking about difficulty that way.

We can also see difficult as a burden, as the world hating us and as something we just have to deal with, whatever.

Maybe we need to seek more difficult, not less.

And believe in the value we can give by dancing with it, than not.

Stay Positive & It Won’t Get Easier But It Does Get More Worth It

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When we begin to break down all the information we consume, all the words we express and all the thoughts we share, we begin to see a pattern.

The information age is still lingering. We’re consuming more content than ever before … through podcasts, books, emails, texts, TV, social media, feedly, etc,.

Despite what appears to be a lot of content creation, we’re still holding a lot of words back. And not just any words, but answers, explanations, truths.

While a marketing plan and a blog are great to produce when you want to see an idea of yours come to fruition, more important is that we invest the time in answering questions.

And not just any particular set of questions. All of the questions. Yes, all of them.

Here are some to get you started.

• Why did you make it?
• Why do people need it?
• The customer base you’re wanting to reach … Why them?
• Who can you help?
• Who will you leave out?
• What change are you trying to make?
  
• What makes you care so much?
• What promise are you making to your customer?
• Why would someone recommend it to a friend?
• How will you know it’s working?
• What’s the difficult part?
• Are others changing their status because of you or maintaining it?
• Are you investing enough to measure what needs to be measured?
• How can you amplify the cycle of your idea so it repeats on its own?
• How are you making it easy for someone to talk about you?
• What are you afraid of?
• Who are the gatekeepers?
• What does perfect look like?
  
• Is it worth it?
  

Stay Positive & Your Answers Can Become Your Content, Too

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Imagine you’re a restaurant …

There’s not a big enough budget you could have to market to everyone with a mouth.

You probably don’t even have a big enough budget to reach everyone in your state (let alone convince them to make the commute).

Also if you’re a restaurant, there’s a minimum audience size you need to keep your doors open.

Now you’re left with a spectrum to play within.

The key is to do two things:

First know what your vision is for the restaurant. Your growth goals. Your profit goals. Your impact goals.

Then align those with the smallest possible audience that can keep you in business and slowly move the needle toward your vision.

The trouble with many a business is that success is based off of size of their business rather than the size of their audience and the impact they’re making on them.

When in doubt, it’s better to be closer to the smallest possible audience.

Stay Positive & Grow, But With Intention And Attention

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They know there are a lot of other ideas and options out there.

There are others with plans D, E and F and others with XX, YY, ZZ.

They know they don’t have enough money to really make as much of an impact as they want.

When they’re deciding to work with you, they’re deciding just that. To work with you. Not because of the ideas (although those play a role), but because of your passion, energy and confidence.

Same can be said for who people decide to tip, for who people decide to rate 5 stars and leave a review, for who people decide they will partner with in life and for who people decide to work with.

It’s about them knowing that you see them and know their fears and yet are still confident in what you can do to help them move forward and the doors you can open.

Stay Positive & They’ll Have Confidence When You Do

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The most exciting pieces of content you read, remember and share aren’t blog, books and podcasts about some boring fact or truth.

They might contain facts or truths, but those are likely sandwiched between story. The story of someone who is becoming an expert – but isn’t one yet.

That’s a key to creating compelling content – making content of your journey to becoming an expert. No need to wait until you are one.

And the smart ones? They stay on that journey.

Stay Positive & Learning Is A Better Group Activity Anyway

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Flow and intensity aren’t counterintuitive.

The shorter the duration of needed flow, the greater intensity is required to excel, to make a name for yourself, to leave an impact on the spectators.

The longer the flow, the lesser the focus.

Too much focus too early leaves you exhausted. And the last mile of any race? That’s where the magic happens, the stars shine and the most impact is made.

We not only need you to show up, but with the right amount of intensity to maintain your flow.

Stay Positive & We’re Watching

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